Recently, I’ve asked some of our clients “do you have defined career paths for your positions?”  Some say their employees’ career is their own responsibility, others say that they provide a structure for their staff in an effort to succeed. What’s the right answer?  Honestly, it depends. Today, more and more organizations are focusing on retention programs to retain their talent and not lose them to a competitor.  What will keep people on-board?  In my opinion, career development, the opportunity for future growth as well as professional and personal advancement are key.

When I graduated from college (we won’t discuss how long ago that was), the organizations I worked for didn’t provide me with any type of roadmap to use as I advanced in my career.  My peers and I had to figure this out on our own.  Is that any different today?  Well, yes and no.  Some organizations prefer that employees take the lead and carve out a niche for themselves in the organization.  They believe employees need to understand and identify what their strengths, weaknesses and interests are for themselves. Other organizations prefer to provide more structure and formal programs to assist employees with their careers.  So, what should you do?

We’ve talked about different generations in the workforce for several years, and I find that the millennial generation that is assuming more of an active role in today’s workforce looks to their employers to develop a defined career roadmap.  They want to know what it looks like, how long it will take to get there and what do they need to do in order to get to the finish line.

Here are a few suggestions on putting a Career Roadmap together.

  1. Identify what culture you are trying to exhibit in your organization. Analyze what talent you have in place and what tools and resources your staff requires in order to be successful in their current jobs.
  2. Identify the skill sets that are needed for all the various positions in your organizations.  Understanding needed and desired competencies is one of the first steps in clarifying roles, responsibilities and expectations.
  3. Provide job opportunities for your staff.  In other words, take a chance and bring a more in-experienced individual onto a project team to expose them to a new assignment and/or project.  It could mean attending meetings with a leadership task force, project meeting, client meeting, etc.  Allow your employees to learn on their own and make mistakes along the way.
  4. Training, training, training.  Many times I hear from organizations that their staff doesn’t  have the necessary skill sets for their work.  It is crucial that employees are provided opportunities to enhance their skill sets, whether it may be technical, communication skills, management skills or other areas.  In addition, sometimes we expect too much from our staff and think they know how to do a task, but they really don’t know. Instead of penalizing your staff, spend some time with them and take the lead to give them your time and the opportunity to learn.
  5. Encourage your staff to participate in professional activities.  There are so many opportunities for employees to learn more about their own profession by interacting and networking with their peers. Giving your employees the opportunity to attend monthly and/or special chapter meetings on select topics is a great way to boost confidence, enhance current skills’ and bring in new ideas and synergy into the organization.

So, whether your organization is one that takes a formal or informal approach to guiding and developing employees, the important thing is that you are doing something to encourage, mentor, teach, communicate and develop your talent.    At the end of the day, everyone will benefit from this effort. Employees will believe that they have an opportunity to grow and as a result will contribute to the overall success of the organization.  That sounds like a successful formula for a career roadmap!